Simple Spaghetti – A Basic and Easy Recipe

Our simple spaghetti recipe is very easy to make with basic ingredients for a delicious lunch or supper any day of the year!

Pair with side dishes such as a side salad and some garlic bread or breadsticks for a simple meal sure to please the whole family. 

Though spaghetti is a classic Italian dish, recipes for spaghetti can be found in almost all Mennonite cookbooks out there. It’s definitely a familiar dish we both found on the family dinner table on occasion during our growing up years.

Though the sky is cloudy today, rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast, the birds are still singing.

I’ve got laundry flapping on the line, in hopes of it drying before the rain arrives.

It’s a new day, complete with new mercies from God!

The perfect day to stay inside and cook a hot meal of simple spaghetti for us to eat. MMM, it’s the perfect pasta dish for a weeknight dinner tonight.

Reasons to love Spaghetti

It’s easy. This is a great recipe for beginners or even children in the kitchen, because it’s easy and fun to make! And did I mention it comes together in approximately a half hour?

It’s simple. There are three key ingredients in spaghetti: ground beef, pasta, and a tasty pasta sauce. The other ingredients definitely add flavor, but if you’re missing some of them, no worries! Spaghetti will be delicious as long as you have the main three components.

It’s delicious. Spaghetti is a homey, comfort food, sure to hit the spot after a long day.

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Supplies we used

• Large skillet – used to make the meat sauce. We use ours like this every day!
• Stainless steel pot – to cook the pasta
• Cutting board – essential for cutting things on
• Kitchen knife – to cut the onion
• Measuring cups and spoons – to measure those savory added ingredients
• Colander/strainer – to drain the grease from the meat and water from the pasta 
• Wooden utensils – these work great with non-stick cookware 

The ingredients you’ll need

Ground beef – is our preference when it comes to meat in spaghetti

Pasta – angel hair spaghetti pasta is our favorite!

Pasta sauce – the best part. Use your favorite pasta sauce, or make your own spaghetti sauce!

Onion – a regular white or yellow diced onion

Garlic – fresh garlic, minced or chopped very fine

Milk – whole milk

Salt – we used regular iodized table salt

Pepper – black pepper

Parmesan cheese – freshly grated parmesan cheese is delicious on top of spaghetti!

Find the actual full recipe on the recipe card below!

How to make Simple Spaghetti – A Basic and Easy Recipe 

First, heat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet on the stove on medium-high heat.

Dice the onion and mince the garlic.

Drizzle a little olive oil in the heated pan and saute the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes before adding the thawed ground beef into the skillet to cook.

Once the ground beef is fully cooked and browned, drain off excess grease, return the beef to the pan and add the pasta sauce, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir well to combine everything and reduce heat to simmer.

In a separate pot, heat salted water (see notes) to boiling and cook the pasta according to package directions (or simply cook for 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente). 

Drain the water from the pasta and stir it in with the meat sauce in the skillet.

Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Notes

“What exactly is a pot of salted boiling water?” you might be wondering, as I did at first, when learning to cook. Basically, you heat water to boiling in a large pot and add a lot of sea salt! How much water and how much salt? What’s a good ratio? Click here to learn more.

We use the same colander/strainer to drain the grease from the ground beef that we use a little later to drain the water from the pasta. Because, why make more dishes dirty than necessary?

Customize your Simple Spaghetti

Spaghetti is wonderful just the way it is, but here are a few ways to customize your spaghetti:

Use a different type of ground meat. Like ground pork, sausage, ground turkey, Italian sausage, or even ground venison instead of or in addition to ground beef.

There are different styles and kinds of spaghetti pasta – use your favorite!

And obviously, you get to choose the pasta sauce you wish to use.

If you have picky eaters or simply don’t care for the texture the diced onion gives, there’s always the option of using granulated onion or onion powder.

Milk is completely optional. Sometimes we like to add half and half instead or maybe a splash of cream along with the milk. 

A dash of cayenne pepper or a pinch of red pepper flakes will add a little heat if that’s your thing.

Fresh herbs such as fresh basil or fresh parsley make a wonderful addition or garnish on this simple spaghetti.

Substitutes for pasta sauce

If you are out of regular pasta sauce, here are some solutions:

Pizza sauce. We make and can our own pizza sauce in the summer with tomatoes from our garden, and this works great as pasta sauce for spaghetti!

Marinara sauce. Another great option for spaghetti. 

Or if you have regular unflavored tomato sauce and tomato paste you can make your own delicious sauce by adding fresh herbs and seasonings and things! Here’s a recipe you might like.

Storage 

Store leftover spaghetti in an airtight container in the refrigerator to be enjoyed within the next 4-5 days. (Fun fact, Randall likes this spaghetti better the second time around!)

Have you tried Simple Spaghetti – A Basic and Easy Recipe?

If you have, leave a comment below! We want to hear from you.

Explore our small town!

See some more of our tried and true faves:

Gold Rush Breakfast Casserole

Cheeseburger Soup

Eclair Dessert

And, as always…

Don’t forget to share!

Thanks for visiting our small town…

’til next time,

Julie